Huckleberry Finn and Last of the Mohicans
"I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and civilize me and I cant stand it. I been there before". (Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn). Consider how the relationship between the civilised and the wild is handled in two or more examples of nineteenth century American fiction.Within Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans the relationship between the civilisation and the wild seems to be very contradictory to the eighteenth and nineteenth century and popular view on the matter. In Cooper's novel, 1776 America was populated with a number of different nations some who were the natives and others who were imported there. With this mix it was seen that the natives were seen as savages as they did not employ the same actions as the French and English who had come to settle there. Twain's novel we see a similar racial discrimination but this time it is the African American slaves who are seen as the wild or savage. Both authors seek to teach the reader about racial equality and show that the wild and seemingly uncivilized to be the civilised. On the first page of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Twa
In the eye of the narrative voice he is called a native. We are told that the wilderness of the continent confronts army before they can face one another. Yet even as they fuss over the travelers they are using the Indian perceptiveness and vision to scan out all of the entrances of the cave. The widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would civilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways: and so when I could not stand it any longer I lit out. Huck's father has always beaten him and stolen what money Huck had to buy alcohol. The native behaviour and actions shows once again Cooper discrediting the European stereotype of the native. The appearance of the Indian is more commanding and threatening than that of the officers. While the officer looks in amazement the native regards him with disdain. The language that Twain uses towards the slaves (such as nigger etc), is very shocking to read and at times I found it uncomfortable. Both Twain and Cooper show gentle humane sides of the oppressed racial minority that the readers would not have seen before, with this in mind we see that both Cooper and Twain seek to abolish or at least path the way to eradicate racial discrimination forever. The introduction of the king and the duke are also comparisons to Huck's father. He also uses the two men to show how the white American can be easily fooled into giving out trust and money to strangers. Cooper immediately seeks to personify nature as being an all-powerful being that has the power of agency and decision. They prepare food for the travelers, and Uncas tries to attend to the ladies in a manner to which they are accustomed. Twain uses their descriptions to show that there isn't a stereotypical look for a crook.
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